Dedication pays off

Menlo-Atherton post player Victoria Fakalata is playing her best when it means the most. The senior's play is one of the main reasons the 10th-seeded Bears find themselves in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Division I tournament, a team that had to win its regular-season finale just to qualify for CCS. The Bears will take on No. 3 Evergreen Valley (18-7), 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Mission College in Santa Clara for a spot in Saturday's championship game. Fakalata showed a glimpse of what was to come when she scored 26 points in a 64-56 loss to Terra Nova in the semifinals of the Peninsula Athletic League tournament. In the first round of CCS against Homestead last Tuesday, Fakalata was unstoppable as she scored 23 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. In the second round against Gunn, she was limited to just eight points as the Titans double- and tripled-teamed her, but was instrumental in stopping the Titans' best player in the second half. In the quarterfinals Saturday against No. 2 Gilroy, Fakalata played perhaps the best game of her high school career -- not only did she score 20 points, she limited Gilroy's 6-foot-3 center to six points as the Bears knocked off the Mustangs, 50-46. For her efforts, Fakalata is this week's Daily Journal Athlete of the Week. "This is the best basketball she's played here at M-A,' said M-A coach Pam Wimberly of the four-year varsity player. "It's very inspirational for all the other players." More important for Fakalata, however, is the growth she has experienced off the court. One of two key starters to miss a significant part of the season because of grades, Fakalata was embarrassed when she was academically ineligible at the beginning of the season. So much so that even though she could get her grades up for the second semester and the last part of the basketball season, she wasn't sure she wanted to play. "I had no one to blame but myself. I know a 'student-athlete' is a student first and I took that for granted," Fakalata said. "I figured I was done with basketball. There was no point (in trying to come back)." But thanks to a push from her personal trainer, as well as from best friend and point guard Jessica Tuliau, Fakalata got her grades in order, worked out on her own, came back to the Bears and provided the spark the team needed to finish the season strong. "It was kind of a downer when we didn't have her those first 15 games," Wimberly said. "This was to be her senior year to blossom. She's (now) the all-around player we expected her to be." Fakalata wasted little time in making her presence felt when she returned to the team. She went at it hard in her first practice, while the rest of the team was in the dog days of a season going nowhere fast. Fakalata's enthusiasm appeared to rub off on the rest of the team. In her first game against Aragon, the Bears took the Dons to overtime before losing by five. "That was when we saw we did have potential," Fakalata said. After doing pretty much whatever she wanted against Homestead in the first round of the CCS tournament, Fakalata had a much tougher time against Gunn, who scouted the Bears against Homestead and devised a plan to limit Fakalata. It worked -- on the offensive end, at least. Fakalata knew the Titans would try to shut her down by guarding her two and sometimes three players. The referees didn't help her cause as they tried to temper her game as she tried to fight through the defense. In the past, Fakalata might have gotten frustrated to the point of being taken out of the game completely. The new and improved version, however, just figured out how she could best help the team. "She came into the huddle in the second quarter and said, 'They're all over me. What can I do?'" Wimberly said. "It was more like, 'This is what's happening.' But not panicking." Fakalata ramped up her defense, helped break the Gunn press and did everything else but score. In fact, with Gunn focusing so much on Fakalata, it opened up the perimeter for Tuliau to score 18 points. "Even though I couldn't (score on) offense, I knew I had to play defense. I knew I had contributed," Fakalata said, who helped shut down Cat Perez in the second half, who finished with 10 points. "I basically said, 'If I'm not scoring, you're not scoring.'" Against Gilroy, Fakalata had her biggest test -- matching up with Gilroy's 6-foot-3 center Laura Steele. "Coming into the game, coach Wimberly basically scared us. 'She's a 6-3! You're going to have to bust your butt in practice!'" Fakalata said. "I admit it, when I first saw her, I was intimidated. That girl (Steele), she was a beast. Playing against her, and having to defend her one-on-one while the rest of my teammates played a zone defense, that put a lot of pressure on me." Turns out all the pressure was on Steele and she had no answer for the 6-foot Fakalata, who scored a game-high 20 points. With only Evergreen Valley standing between Menlo-Atherton and a spot in the CCS Division I finals, Fakalata and Wimberly like the Bears' chances. "I think it's a winnable game," Wimberly said. But win or lose, Fakalata has learned a lot about her team, and herself, this season. "I think, personally, this season was a season to find my true calling. Was I going to contribute to this team or take my past with me on the court?" Fakalata said. "(My coming back) changed the point of view (for the team). It really helped a lot. Whatever I can do to help this team (I'll do it). "I'm really proud of this team."